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Elected officials in Kamloops would welcome provincial oversight in the wake of dozens of conduct investigations.

The BC Ombudsperson's office recently called for a standardized and independent approach to keeping local politicians in line. Some Kamloops councillors have voiced similar wishes in the past, and they're throwing support behind the ombudsperson.

"The challenge that every community is facing is we have personal problems that seem to be interfering with good governance," councillor Stephen Karpuk said. "And it shouldn't be about us, it should be about the community."

He said the nine politicians on Kamloops council have agreed they struggle to get along and they all asked the province to revisit its legislation that currently stops short of mandating local governments take on a code of conduct, let alone overseeing how they work.

It was a law that came into effect after the 2022 local elections, requiring councils to at least consider adopting a bylaw that governs their own behaviour. Since then, Kamloops has spent around $300,000 for two dozen investigations, most being withdrawn or dismissed.

Ombudsperson Jay Chalke said there are "serious risks" when relying solely on local politicians to police each other, pointing to two recent reports from Vancouver.

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"Without a provincial framework, local ethics and integrity bodies are only established by local by-law and thus lack the protection needed to operate independently and effectively. As a result, public accountability suffers," Chalke said in a recent news release.

For Kamloops, there has been no shortage of sanctions against the mayor for code of conduct breaches, but councillor Margot Middleton said it leaves little option when there's no sign of change.

She questioned whether the province could step in for "repeat offenders," short of recall legislation. She didn't say what the province might do differently in terms of enforcement, but she did suggest the provincial government could alleviate the cost burden on local taxpayers.

Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson, too, welcomed provincial oversight for the process.

The mayor, who was found to have breached the code of conduct three times, claims councillors use it to stifle his role. He sees provincial oversight as a way to keep councillors out of the decision of whether to sanction him.

"They've taken this code of conduct and used it for a political tool is what they've done," he said. 

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Chalke's letter to Municipal Affairs Minister Ravi Kahlon came in the wake of two Vancouver ethics investigations, one examining the park board and the other city council.

He said the BC approach lacked teeth to effectively police behaviour when compared to other provinces. It also leaves no option for situations where the majority of a board breaks the bylaw, since their is no outside oversight to turn to.

While Chalke sees a shortfall in the legislation, Coun. Karpuk said there was likely an expectation the rules for local politicians were going to change after testing the results across the province. He pointed to a change for Kamloops alone, where city hall was overburdened with "frivolous" complaints from the public, and it prompted council to decide only complaints from themselves, either directly or simply pre-screened, could be investigated.

Separate from the question of policing behaviour, Coun. Karpuk said he would also like to see hopeful politicians educated before running in local elections. He suggested problems with behaviour could be alleviated with a civics lesson.

"By having a test and a signature at the end, that's he first step of accountability," he said. "I would argue you should have basic qualifications and understanding of the job... It shouldn't be hard. It's not going to be a rocket science test, this should be basics."

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